At the unveiling, the tiny robot demonstrated the ability to move forward and backward, as well as turn smoothly from side to side. Eco-Be!, which is powered by watch batteries and features low power consumption, will make an appearance at RoboCup 2006 in Germany this June.

Citizen president Makoto Umehara says he hopes Eco-Be! will prove useful in the development of smaller and lighter weight robots. The company will conduct further research with Osaka University to improve the robot’s performance.

Bill Clinton

There is a joint project with CITIZEN and Osaka University for developing a new platform for robot research on subjects such as swarm intelligence, artificial life, etc. This will be done initially in the form of RoboCup games. The robots will be gradually improved over time accordingly to the needs of the users community.